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ARLY LARIVIERE must not doubt his plan to restructure NU LOOK and become the sole lead vocalist of his band. I stand strong and firm behind this decision of his.

Some doubt that this decision will work for him. Well, I have something to tell these doubters: anything in life in can work out. It is all about how well you are going to present it with all the changes brought to it [if any] to the interested people.

When you are going to battle, you can only bring with you and count on the weapons you have in your arsenal. He needs to count on himself and no one else. No one musician in this business is worth being counted on; they are nothing but a bunch of mercenaries looking for “kote dlo a ap koule pi fre pou yo a.”

ARLY needs to envision a banging delivery strategy to change the game. Part of that strategy should be for him to change the production mode of the band. What do I mean by that? He needs to count on his forte, which is KONPA LOVE. Forget about the hardcore Konpa. Stay away from that. In fact, if you study the trends carefully in this Konpa music production, you will realize that the Konpa Love tunes carry the weight that could determine the lifespan or life expectancy of any given album -if it is going to make it or if it is going to be a hit album.

He will also need to invest some money in developing a marketing strategy to make the market accept this new facelift done to the band -facelift in terms of structure and production. What will that do? That will play in the psychology of the market to make the consumers accept what they could or would be reluctant to accept and embrace. That is the power of marketing.

So ARLY has what the market is craving for. He has the ingredients to cook the good food, so he only needs to take his time to prepare something that will wake up the gastronomy of the market.

Maestro, this game is yours to lose. Make it happen just like you had done it before. You can do it, man. Do not doubt yourself; it is going to work.

How did I miss that homophobic remark of his? I guess I did not dig deep enough. Did he call ARLY a “masisi” (Creole word for gay) or something? Okay… if so, so what ARLY was gay!!!! Does his gayness impact his ability to produce hits after hits on every single album? Does his gayness make him less of a human being to dare taking on TI JOE as a challenge in a trash-talk contest? I don’t think so. So what does his homophobic remark have to do with any strife between him and Arly?

This is the type of ridiculousness we need to correct when these guys tend to forget that they cannot be saying things just for the fun of saying things. When you are an artist, a public figure for that matter, you are so influential that your words, statements and behaviors can negatively or positively impact an entire society because you have people looking up to you. That’s why you have got to be ultra careful.

I did not read TI JOE’s homophobic jab thrown at ARLY, but I do trust FABRICE’s honesty in his reference. I think TI JOE needs to exercise a little bit of political correctness next time, if he needs to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself and the band he is a member of.

Some People, including my friend Versace, may think that I have something against Nu Look, but that is quite the opposite. I love all the bands/artists, especially the ones making great music and acting for the betterment of our music business.

I do not write to destroy; I write to correct mischievousness in the business. I have written to advice Disip, one of your stark competitors, especially after the PR deal they had with JP Relations had reached a point of no return. I had advised them to revise the decision. Now, if they did not listen to me, that is their business, not mine.

Anyhow, your album is soon to hit the streets, and I have a strong sense it will score big. How could you have a guy like Pipo singing on an album to not be expecting damage? He is one of the very few best we have in the business as we speak. But do not get too hardheaded and confident to fail to do what you are supposed to do to make the best out of this production.

Do keep in mind that great products do fail if the right marketing strategy is not being implemented. So needless to say that you are going to need to engage in an aggressive marketing campaign to get the job done. Here is what you are going to do to get Nu Look back in the lead again. You need to do two things:

You need an outstanding public relations staffer. I would recommend you to contract JP Relations. Listen to me… I do not know Sasa like that. I do not know her more than I know you, and I have never met you a day in my life. She has never been my classmate in Haiti and the US. But I have been watching her. She is one of the best, if not the best, we have in this business right now. GET HER!!! You do need the best to work with and/or for you; I am sure you can afford that.

Part of your marketing strategy should be to have the entire band embark on a “meet and greet with the fans” bus tour from South to North and East to West coupled with semi press conferences. Have the media to follow you at every stop, where there is a huge Haitian community. Have you ever seen the politicians here in the US going on bus tours to campaign? Well, there is a reason for that. It is all about marketing yourself and the message or product you want the people to know about. It gets media attention and publicity for free. That’s what you call free press.

Marketing is all about making noise and captivating the attention of the people. Make it a week-long or a two-weekend-long event -whichever is more convenient for the band. You will be amazed to see the result. Your band would be the first to have ever gone on a bus tour to market an album. Try to be the first or the leader in everything for the followers to follow. And at the end of the day, make sure you send me the check in the mail. My advice has never been for free. Just joking… lol 😀

Like this:

Pipo left Beljazz, a band he helped put together from scratch with Ralph Menelas, his business partner, to integrate Nu Look -a band which was on the verge of total disintegration, following the unexpected and sudden resignation of the lead vocalist, Gazzman Couleur, almost a year ago.

The Pipo card sought by Maestro Arly Lariviere is by most people’s accounts, including mine, a well thought out or an astute move on the part of the maestro; I personally applaud him for that.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Pipo, with his pristine vocal pitch, has the credence to meet Maestro Lariviere’s expectations and get the job done. He is one of the top lead vocalists in the business, and the league he is in has very few people of his caliber. He can navigate on any track given to him –Konpa love or up-tempo.

We all must agree, however, that there can never be another Gazzman Couleur to replace Gazzman in Nu Look. So Arly is going to have to capitalize on Pipo’s unique attributes to score big with the next album should he want him (Pipo) to be and stay relevant in the band in the years to come.

Pipo already has what is needed for him to deliver exactly what is expected of him. But that will not be enough. More is going to need to be done in terms of marketing strategy to get him to be accepted as a replacement of Gazzman Couleur in the band. It is feasible, though, but this is definitely not going to be a simple task.

While we are well aware of his strengths and attributes, we cannot overlook his flaws, which, in my opinion, cause a huge problem for him to fully assume his role of frontline superstar in the band.

In terms of on-stage performance, it has been said that he has a connectivity issue, preventing him from connecting with his crowd (the fans). In fact, that is something he has been largely criticized for. He is not as big of a people person as Gazzman is. And that could be a major setback for him in terms of maintaining the band’s leadership position in the post-Gazzman era.

Most people who have been following him in the Konpa market would tell you that he is not a guy to fully count on; he is not someone who believes in business commitment and consistency. In other words, he does not have any sense of stability in him. Fairly so, they argue that he has a track record that could prove that to be true. He has moved around quite a bit in his career -from Passion of Montreal to D-zine; from D-zine to Hang Out; from Hangout to Beljazz, his own band; and from Beljazz to now Nu Look. So they express doubts that this marriage between him and Nu Look is going to last.

We all know that perception is reality. The perception most people have of him is that he is too stiff and snobbish to make it in the entertainment world. So he has work to do to change that perception of him; he needs to work on his public relations skills. For that, I would suggest that he hire the service of an expert in personality improvement to help him out. If he can get that heavy charge off his back, he will be insurmountable.

To the prognosis that the marriage will not last long, I would say this: however long he will stay carrying the colors of Nu Look will depend on how long Maestro Lariviere will want him to. Why do I say that?

Pipo is not the type who would allow anyone to exploit and take advantage of him. He knows how to count his money and defend his interests. His days in the band will be numbered if Maestro Lariviere is not taking good care of him like a lead vocalist of his stature deserves to be taken care of. So how long he is going to stay with Nu Look will depend on how well he is being treated by the man with all the power in his hands, and that’s the one and only Maestro Arly Lariviere.

Finally, Pipo in any band will cause wonders. That’s how great of a lead vocalist he is. I don’t know one band leader who would not feel lucky to have him in their squad. He is beyond talented. He has what it takes to get the job done. But like everybody else, he has flaws to be worked on. This is, indeed, a defining moment for him. He must score big with the band’s upcoming album. If he fails, as the pressure is mounted so high on him, that will be a major blow for him and the band.